Shun Nitta
Shun Nitta is Japan's current second choice forward after Kojiro Hyuga and is a regular starting member of the team. In his school years he has played for Nankatsu and Otomo and later turned professional by joining Kashiwa Reysol. He is one year younger than the rest of the Golden Generation. Nitta's primary offensive abilities are his speed and his Hayabusa (Peregrine falcon) Shoot which he evolved to the Hayabusa Volley. As the series progressed, he learned to use his shooting techniques with both feet as well as showing field awareness by drawing away defenders and letting through balls. Synopsis Captain Tsubasa Arc Shizuoka Prefecture Tournament Nitta makes his first appearance in Nankatsu, where Tsubasa Ozora plays, are preparing for their prefecture's tournament. At the time he is playing for Otomo, a school team in the same prefecture. Initially, Nitta is shown along with Urabe, Kishida, Nakayama and Nishio, all former Nankatsu SC players, observing the training sessions of Nankatsu. At the end of one of those, a confrontation occurs where all 5 Otomo players enter the training grounds and Nitta demonstrates his abilities by scoring against Morisaki, who is shown unable to react. Later that day, Tsubasa also notes the power of the shot as he had trapped it at the start of the incident. When asked about Nitta, Nankatsu SC's coach says the following to Tsubasa: "During your era, there were a lot of good players like you, Misaki and Wakabayashi. I was worried about the team after you left for middle school, but he save us. He clearly has not your soccer sense and there's a world between you in the way you handle the ball, but he's able to run 100 meters in 11 seconds, his legs and loins make him naturally fast. Thanks to this, the shot he named himself, the Hayabusa Shoot is a masterpiece." The coach also mentions that Nitta led the team to a win in the national championships, where they beat Meiwa FC with Takeshi Sawada. After an accidental run in with Tsubasa, Otomo's team is revealed to be insulted by the composure and negligence the Nankatsu team is showing, taking it as a sign of underestimation. At the time Otomo are shown practicing running 30 kilometers from their school, much to the surprise of Tsubasa who notes their abilities must come from this kind of training every day. This confrontation results in Nankatsu considerably increasing the intensity of their trainings, because Tsubasa acknowledges the presence of negligence in the team as a result of their good results so far. At the start of the Shizuoka prefecture tournament, Otomo and Nankatsu are both seeded and as such can not meet until the final game. For their first opponent, Otomo meet Fujisawa and beat them 5-0, with Nitta scoring the first goal with a Hayabusa Shoot, which leaves the keeper motionless, just like it did Morisaki. They win their next 4 matches to reach the final where they face Nankatsu. The game starts with Tsubasa man-marking Nitta and winning their first confrontation, although Katagiri notes it was close. During the rest of the half, Tsubasa marks Nitta and doesn't give him any chances to score, but a little before half-time, he joins in the attack and scores with a no trap long volley shoot. This was explained as a good tactical choice, as even if the chance was wasted, there wouldn't have been time for Otomo to make a counter-attack with Nitta free. At half-time, Nitta is frustrated at not scoring because of his inability to escape Tsubasa. Realising that trapping the ball after a pass would give his opponent time to catch up with his speed, Nitta believes a no trap shot, like the one Nankatsu scored with is his best chance, but also considers himself lacking the technique for such a difficult shot. However, as soon as the second half kicks off, Nitta uses his speed to escape Tsubasa's marking for a moment and instantly tries a no trap volley. Although he mistimes the kick, failing the shot completely and getting ridiculed for his lack of skill by the crowd, Nitta at this point decided that this is his only way of defeating Nankatsu and Tsubasa. He continues with his attempts and gradually improves his timing, much to the surprise of Katagiri, who is amazed at the prospect of someone mastering such a high-profile move in just 30 minutes. As the game progresses, Otomo earn a free-kick, which Nitta uses to do his Hayabusa Shoot unobscured. With Morisaki guarding one side of the goal and Tsubasa the other, Nitta shoots straight in the middle, knocking out one of the Nankatsu players and using the hole this creates in the wall, he aims another Hayabusa Shoot through it. Tsubasa clears the ball after using Ken Wakashimazu's Sankakugeri technique to quickly move from the side to the middle of the goal and nearly scores a goal in the resulting counter-attack. However, once it was stopped, Nitta received a long pass, unmarked by Tsubasa, as the latter had joined in the attack. To the surprise of everyone, Nitta decides not to trap the ball and again goes for the Hayabusa No Trap Volley Shoot, but this time with the right timing he scores the equalizing goal, leaving Morisaki and Nankatsu's defense motionless. Despite this newfound skill, from this point on in the game, Nankatsu utilizes teamplay both in offense and defense and by doing passcuts and offside traps they completely shut out Nitta from the match, while scoring 2 more goals with which the game ends 3-1. Junior Youth Tournament Following the end of the middle school tournament, the representatives for Japan's Junior Youth team were selected from those having participated in it, but Nitta was the sole exception, being chosen in place of the recuperating Tsubasa. Despite this, he was evaluated by Misugi as strong enough to be a starting member. He took part in the practice games against high schools Mihara, Teiwa and national champions Toho Academy and was approved to be among the 17 players to take part in the Europe Campaign. In their first game abroad, Nitta was a starter against Hamburg and had an early shot against Wakabayashi, but his Hayabusa Volley was caught cleanly. It was in this game that his 50 meters sprint time was said to be 6 seconds and he was showed several times utilizing his speed. His only other contribution was deflecting a cross that was about to be intercepted and redirecting it towards Hyuga. Nitta also played in the friendlies against Bremen Jr. Youth, Bayern Jr. Youth and Belgium Jr. Youth. In Japan's first game of the tournament against Italy, Nitta was among the starting members. He tried his Hayabusa Shoot against Gino Hernandez, but it was solidly caught. Versus Argentina, Nitta hit the crossbar after a Running Hayabusa Volley and also tried supplying Sano with an assist, but the latter couldn't score. Nitta didn't play against France. Against West Germany Nitta was a starter and had the first opportunity to shoot against Müller. However after making eye contact with the German keeper, he went for a pass. Hyuga later explained that Nitta has a natural forward's sense, having played as such since he was little and so he felt the keeper was leaving no gaps and shooting would have been in vain. Despite this, he decided to shoot when Müller carelessly threw the ball to the Japanese players because of his self-confidence. Even though he was aiming for the corner, Nitta's Hayabusa Shoot was easily caught with one hand by the keeper. Later, when Müller was discovered to have a weakness against shots aimed between his legs, Nitta had an opportunity to score, but the keeper regained composure and fully corrected this weakness, stopping the Hayabusa Shoot with one hand. After the tournament In the next middle school tournament, Otomo play Nankatsu in the Shizuoka prefecture final and after dribbling past several defenders, Nitta scores the winning goal with a Hayabusa Shoot. This ended Nankatsu's 3 year winning streak in official matches. World Youth Arc At the start of the World Youth arc, Nitta is a 3rd grade high schooler. Training Camp During the training camp for the world youth tournament, the Japanese team is confronted by coach Gamo and his Real Japan 7 team, which results in a 7 on 7 game. Along with Morisaki, Sawada, Matsuyama, Misaki, Hyuga and Jito, Nitta takes part in the match. Despite being allowed a clear shot by Urabe, Nitta's Hayabusa Shoot is caught by the RJ7 keeper Yamada and he later has another attempt saved. RJ7 win the game 3-2 and because of a stipulation made at the beginning of the game, the new Japan Youh coach Gamo forces 7 of the Japanese players to leave the camp, Nitta being one of them. He also tells each of them the weaknesses he has found and cites Nitta's inability to shoot with both feet the reason for his removal from the team. One month later, Nitta makes his return to the training camp, intruding onto the field along with Jito and Soda, instantly scoring with a left-footed Hayabusa Volley against Yamada. In the official rematch with Real Japan 7, with a win guaranteeing their return to the Japan Youth team, Nitta gives his team a 2-1 lead with a left-footed Hayabusa Volley on a Kamisori Pass coming from behind him. In a flashback he is seen vigorously training his left leg, kicking a tire or lifting weights during class in order to improve the strength of his unnatural foot. His class is also shown helping him with this individual training. Nitta scores again later with a right-footed Hayabusa Shoot and the game is prematurely ended by Gamo at a result of 10-2 for the returning players. Asian Preliminaries Having missed the first round of the preliminaries, because of his exclusion from the team, Nitta is a starter for the first game of the second round against Uzbekistan. He quickly makes an appearance, letting a through ball on a Hyuga pass, leaving Aoi free to shoot and score the first goal. Nitta then scores Japan's third goal with a Jumping Hayabusa Volley. Japan win the game 8-1. Nitta also plays against UAE where Japan win 6-0. In the 3rd match of the group against Saudi Arabia, Nitta and Aoi provide early pressure to disrupt the opponents' slow passing game. Once Japan take the lead in the second half, Nitta is substituted off the field, replaced by Sano. In Japan's last preliminary group game against China, Nitta is presented with a long pass by Wakabayashi early in the game, but his Hayabusa Shoot hits the crossbar. Japan go on to win 6-3 and finish top of their group. The deciding game for the qualification for the World Youth is the Asian preliminary semi-final against Iraq. Early in the game Nitta fakes a shot, missing the ball, but this provides the rushing Aoi a clear shot with which Japan open the scoring. After taking a 3-0 lead, Japan are left without stamina, because of the vigorous training they had the day before in order to match their play to Tsubasa's full strength. They manage to keep this result and qualify for the Asian final and the World Youth. In the final, Japan beat Korea 2-0 and become Asian champions with Nitta taking part in the match and is shown celebrating with the team wearing his medal. World Youth Tournament As part of Japan's tactic against Mexico, Nitta is left on the bench for the World Youth opening game. He comes in in the 35th minute of the second half after Japan are led 0-1 and has a Hayabusa Shoot saved by Espadas. Nitta also takes part in Japan's final attack, letting a through ball for Sorimachi, which after a quick exchange results in the winning goal scored by Hyuga. Against Uruguay, Nitta gets a chance to shoot in the second half, but because of the strong headwind, his Hayabusa Shoot's power is halved and it's stopped. He does, however, contribute defensively, stopping Hino's Ni Kaiten Tornado Shoot with the help of Sawada and Aoi. In the final group game against Italy, Nitta scored his first goal of the tournament as Japan won 4-0. Against Sweden Nitta has a chance to score on a deflected shot from Tsubasa, but his Hayabusa Volley is stopped on the goal line by Larsson. Facing Brazil in the final, Japan was dominated for the entire first half and it was only after Brazil had taken the lead, that Nitta was involved in the play. He was involved in the attack that resulted in Japan equalizing, first by doing a Hayabusa Volley that was deflected and later pushing Tsubasa into the goal along with Hyuga, Aoi, Ishizaki and Jito. After the game ending 2-2 in full-time, Japan won with a golden goal by Tsubasa in extra-time, becoming world youth champions. Road to 2002 Arc During the off-season, Nitta took part in Ken Wakashimazu's family dojo, where he participated in the Wakado Style karate lessons. His aim was to acquire the technique of kicking the ball from any stance and from every possible angle. Having joined Kashiwa Reysol, Nitta is facing Nagoya Grampus Eight where Wakashimazu is playing. In his first confrontation with Ken, Nitta displays his Wakadoryu Sho Jodan Geri (Wakado Style Super High Kick) as well as revealing his ambition to be Hyuga's two top partner for Japan in the 2002 World Cup. During the game, the Nagoya defenders note Nitta's improved sharpness, compared to the first part of the season, and the difficulty of marking him. Despite this, Nitta can't score against Wakashimazu and his team loses 1-0. Golden 23 Arc Nitta joined the Japanese Olympic team. Since Hyuga was playing for FC Reggiana in Italy, Nitta became Japan's ace striker. He and Wakashimazu formed the Wakadoryu Combi, or the Karate Combi. With the Hayabusa Geri - a Wakado Style's technique that he acquired from his special training, he created his new Hayabusa Shoot, faster and more powerful than the original. Techniques *'Hayabusa Shoot:' A strong, straight shot made possible by Nitta's naturally strong legs. Initially only done with his right leg, Nitta later learns to do it with the left as well. *'No Trap Running Hayabusa Volley:' A strong, straight volley utilizing Nitta's strong legs. It's most prominent characteristic is Nitta's ability to do it without trapping the ball, including on passes coming from behind. He has also done a running and a jumping version. During the World Youth arc Nitta learns to do it with both feet. *'Speed Up:' While not exactly a special technique, Nitta's speed is one of his greatest assets, as he is said to run 100 meters in 11 seconds or 50 meters in 6 seconds. *'Wakadoryu Sho Jodan Geri: '''A skill acquired from training the Wakado Style in the Wakashimazu family dojo. Nitta can use it to make a shot on a very high ball, regardless of his stance and angle towards the ball. *'Wakadoryu Combi''' (with Wakashimazu) Trivia *It took Nitta 18 minutes to learn the Hayabusa No Trap Volley from scratch in the game against Nankatsu. It was his 5th attempt. *There is a mistake in Captain Tsubasa - chapter 88 involving Nitta: Nitta's name wasn't among the starting members for the match against Bremen, but he was seen playing from the start in that match. Image nitta.jpg Category:Characters introduced in the Chugakusei Saga Category:Players of Japan Category:Forwards